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SEEDS OF DOUBT
by Stephanie Kane
Scribner, November 2004
304 pages
$24.00
ISBN: 0743245571


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

SEEDS OF DOUBT is an excellent psychological murder mystery and at times a nail-biting read. The main character, Jackie Flowers, is a criminal defense attorney who suffers from dyslexia.

The author doesn't describe the symptoms of this disability very well, but it seems that Jackie had not learned to read and was able to get through law school only by misleading friends into giving her help. This sounds rather unbelievable, and I wonder if the dyslexia gimmick is more a hindrance than a help to the story.

I also found that the client seemed to be more believable as an attorney for most of the book and Jackie seemed more like the client. However, toward the last third, the story has a dramatic change in character delineation, the pace picks up, and we find suspense in unlikely places.

The story is about a young woman, Rachel Boyd, who at the age of 12 had been sentenced to prison for killing a young boy. Now released from prison, she goes to live with her younger brother, Christopher, who is now the President and CEO of Frontier Banks.

Not long after Rachel's release, another boy, Benjamin Sparks, is found murdered in the same way. Immediately she is suspected. Her attorney, Jackie Flowers, convinces the court to let Rachel live with her until the trial. During Rachel's stay Jackie finds out bits and pieces about Rachel's and Christopher's life as children, and learns a lot about herself as well. There seems to be something that Rachel is keeping from Jackie that could help the case and Jackie is as determined to find out what it is as Rachel is determined to keep it from Jackie.

Jackie is aided in her quest by her investigator Pilar Perez, who is a coarse, disrespectful woman Jackie had helped beat a murder rap. Added to this mix is Lily, an adopted 12-year-old obnoxious neighboring child who seems more like 30. Lily, who neither cares for nor obeys her parents, likes and obeys Jackie, but only when she wants to. Jackie ends up taking Lily almost everywhere, including on a trip to the other side of the state for Rachel's trial. But Lily's persistence to have her own way proves dangerous.

The author uses newspaper clippings about the first murder to move the story forward and help the reader understand the times in which the original killing happened. Little pieces of information from these clippings make Jackie see the need to revisit the original murder scene. A newspaper reporter who made his name at the time of the first murder and later faded from sight now reappears. New revelations come like waves at the beginning of a storm, and as each problem is resolved, we find more to come, making this a suspenseful and enjoyable read.

Reviewed by Ginger K. W. Stratton, August 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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